Build Your Own Dog House

You can enjoy several key benefits and advantages when you choose to build your own custom dog house. When you build your own dog house, you will save money over buying a pre built wood dog house from your home center, garden center, or other retail outlet. When you build it yourself, you save money since you provide the labor, and you don't have to factor in the profit the store needs to make. Safety and durability are advantages you get when you build your dog house. Since you buy your own materials, you will inherently know the quality of your final product, how durable and how safe the house will be for your dog. Finally, all dogs are unique and each has his own needs for a dog house. Finding plans and building a dog house exactly for your dog gives you the flexibility to create the exact house for your special pooch!

No matter what kind of dog you have, Labrador Retriever to German Shepherd to Great Dane to Springer Spaniel, building your beloved pet his or her own shelter is sure to be a labor of love as you give your dog his own space for comfort, security, and protection from various elements of weather: heat, cold, rain, and snow.

Again, just make sure you have a good set of dog house plans to guide you in terms of a materials list, tools list, construction diagrams, and building procedure so you end up with a dog house you can be proud of and proud to display in your yard.

Find great dog house plans here...

Solid proven plans will insure that you end up with the exact dog house you want, and more importantly, the one you intended to end up with when you first chose the plan you're using.

In addition, if you get a set of plans or a booklet of dog house plans, you get the added benefit of being able to choose from a wide selection of dog houses, almost like going to a large store that sells nothing but dog houses! Flip through the set of plans, decide on which dog house you want to build, get your materials, measure wisely, and get going. Before long, you will have the perfect dog house the both you and your dog will love.

It is really not as hard as you would think to build your own dog house. Of course, different dog house styles and sizes will ultimately determine the amount of skill, work, time, effort, and materials required. But even a beginner with just basic woodworking skills and some knowledge and experience with woodworking hand and power tools can successfully build a great dog house. Equip yourself with a solid set of plans and have all your materials before you start. Armed with that, even if you are a novice, you can complete your dog house building project in a day or two. Take your time and get help from family members or friends. And remember that ol' handyman saying: Measure twice, cut once! Don't rush, follow your detailed building plans, and be mindful of all safety concerns when using any tool and handling heavy materials. Do that and you will end up with an attractive, safe, and perfect dog house.

Pressure treated would contains chemicals that are not just harmful but fatal to a dog should he chew and ingest any of the wood. So, never use pressure treated wood when you build your own dog house. You will read in some places that you should not use such wood on any part of the dog house on which the dog can get to with his mouth. In my case, I don't take any chances and simply steer clear of this type of lumber for ANY part of the dog house; the risk simply is not worth it.

You basically have two choices for the type of roof when you build your own dog house: Peaked roof and slanted roof. The peak roof from the front has a triangular shape, the so called gable roof. The slanted roof is flat but is pitched slightly such that the roof is higher in the front and lower in the back. The pitch of both the peaked roof and slanted roof allows for water and snow runoff and minimizes other debris (leaves, sticks, etc) from accumulating on the dog house roof. Now, some people say to never build a dog house with a peaked roof. Why? Well, the inside of the peak is an ideal home for wasps and hornets to build nests in that crevice. I've never had a problem with this since I often make the roof hinged for easy opening or removable so it can be taken off. Either way, you get easy access to the inside of the roof for regular cleaning, keeping bugs and pests at a minimum.

Now these are just simple guidelines, not cast in stone rules. In general, the dog house needs to be just large enough for your dog to fit in, walk in, and have room to turn around. The door should be just tall enough such that the dog has to duck a bit to enter; a good guideline is a door that is about three fourths the distance from his front shoulder to the ground. If the opening is too large, it will retain less heat in the cold weather and not as cool in the warm weather; however, equipping the dog house with a doggie door can help in this regard as well.

In terms of overall size, a basic guideline is to keep the dimensions to within 25% larger than your dog. So, if your dog is 30 inches from nose to rump (tail excluded), then a good size dog house with adequate sleeping area will be about 38 in length and width. Same applies for height.

You will need basic building materials that you can get at your favorite home center. Each dog house is different, but there are some common materials and tools you will need. Indeed, you can get a dog house kit that you just assemble, but again, it's easy and better to build a custom dog house with materials listed in a good set of dog house plans or blueprints.

You will need plywood, 3/4 inch or better, studs to frame the side walls and roof rafters, you can go with pine or red cedar, shingles for the exterior and roof or go with aluminum roofing. Assembly is done with 4d or 12d galvanized nails along with outdoor screws. Carpentry tools needed include a hammer (maybe even a framing hammer), screw driver, saw (hand saw and power circular saw or miter box saw), tape measure, square, drill, nail punch and set, level, construction adhesive.